BOTULISM AND HOME CANNING 25 



of Victory Garden Products, the Department made it clear that it can 

 recommend onh- methods considered universally safe, since its published 



material is used in all parts of the United States 



In stating its recommendations, the Department of Agriculture made 

 clear that Bacillum botulinum is widely distributed in soils, the number 

 of cases of poisoning from home-canned non-acid foods is relatively small, 

 and a large percentage of these reports have occurred on the Pacific Coast 

 or in the Mountain and Great Plains States. Outside of these regions, 

 some State Agricultural Colleges approve alternate methods of canning 

 non-acid vegetables and meats, though all recommend the pressure canner 

 as first choice. Each State College publishes directions for canning that 

 it considers safe within its own State. 



All food technologists who are familiar with the technical aspects of home 

 canning and botulism are in agreement that only a pressure canner should be 

 used for the processing of non-acid foods. The home-canning directions as pro- 

 vided by California clearly reflect the thinking of technical men toward this 

 problem. 



In the choice between recom.mending the boiling water bath method of canning 

 or the use of a pressure canner the problem boils dpwn to the question whether a 

 method which is known to be satisfactory when correctly used is to be recom- 

 mended, or whether one should assume the responsibility of recommending a 

 method which might or might not be adequate. This is a matter which should 

 be given considerable thought b>- agencies which supply recommendations for 

 home canning, particularly when this information will be distributed all over the 

 country. Although the incidence of botulism is very low, we are faced with a 

 disease which, when it does strike, may kill an entire family. 



Hall (1936) has quite aptly pointed out that those who assume the responsi- 

 bility of providing the public with home-canning instructions are faced with the 

 education of three distinct groups of housewives, as follows: 



1. Those who are well grounded in the fundamental principles of 

 bacteriology as applied to home canning; who intelligently use controlled 

 steam pressure or intermittent sterilization methods of canning; who are 

 ever conscious of the danger of botulism in spoiled canned foods; who 

 never taste or serve spoiled food; and who always recook all canned foods 

 before serving them. These housewives and their families rarely, if ever, 

 die of botulism. 



2. A ver\- large number of women who hav^e little or no knowledge of 

 bacteriolog) ; who use antiquated "cold pack" or other inadequate methods 

 of canning, and who, having much spoilage, are vaguely conscious of an 

 ill-defined element of danger which they attempt to avoid by tasting each 

 jar of food before serving it. No doubt thousands of jars of perfectly harm- 

 less spoiled home-canned foods are discarded as a result of this common 

 practice but from time to time a jar is encountered which contains botu- 

 linus toxin, resulting in the death of the human guinea pig and often 

 domestic fowls and other animals as well. In these cases the other members 

 of the family do not suffer. 



3. The third group consists of people who are at the bottom of the 

 ladder educationally, socially and economically; who use the crudest 

 methods of home canning; who seem to be oblivious of the danger of eating 

 spoiled food; and who will apparenth' eat an\thing that looks like food if 

 they can get it down. Such foods may be purposeh' fermented to impart a 

 desired flavor, or the>- may be highly seasoned or f^a^'ored to mask spoilage. 

 When botulism occurs under such conditions it usualh' takes a toll of 

 several lives .... 



